Avant-garde graphics from around the globe
Introduction to the book 'Graphic Design for the 21st Century', by Charlotte and Peter Fiell
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Over the last decade the practice of graphic design has undergone a momentous change as pixels have become a handy substitute for print and software has lessened the profession's reliance on its traditional tools of pen and paper. In no other discipline of design has computer technology had such a transforming impact, and this is why "Graphic Design for the 21st Century" has been dedicated to the thoughts and visions of designers working at today's graphic coalface. The one hundred designers included in this celebration of contemporary graphic design have been specifically selected for the forward-looking nature of their work. From the Netherlands and Switzerland to America and Iceland to Japan and Australia, this book features a truly international sampling of graphic design that reveals a shared desire to communicate ideas and values in the most visually compelling way possible.
Throughout our daily lives we are surrounded and peppered by graphic messages. Indeed they have become so much part of the fabric of every-day modern life - from breakfast cereal packaging and advertising billboards to logos on clothes and television company identities - that often we register their codes only on a subconscious level. Against an ever-present insidious backing track of visual Muzak, graphic designers vie for the viewer's attention by shaping communication that is not only visually arresting but also frequently intellectually contesting. To this end they can either grab attention in a bold and direct manner or slowly reel us in with visual ambiguity or double-coded meaning. In an ever-expanding sea of information and images the best attention "snaggers" are those who bait their hooks with meaningful content, quirkily intelligent humour and/or, more rarely, genuinely new formal inventiveness. Because of the overwhelming bombardment of visual communications that we all experience on a daily basis, we have not only become more visually literate and culturally savvy in the deciphering of the intentions that lie at the root of the codes, but also our senses have become increasingly jaded by the stylistic sameness of much mainstream, "strategic," marketing-led communication. These days, for something to catch our attention for more than just a few seconds it has to be really thoughtprovoking or amusing. More than at any other time in the short but prolific history of graphic design, the current pressure on professional practitioners to produce distinctively authentic work that conveys a message in a uniquely captivating way is greater than ever. And that's not all; graphic design just got bigger. The profession has broadened as the boundaries between creative disciplines have become increasingly blurred through the application of - and opportunities presented by - new democratising digital technologies.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Over the last decade the practice of graphic design has undergone a momentous change as pixels have become a handy substitute for print and software has lessened the profession's reliance on its traditional tools of pen and paper. In no other discipline of design has computer technology had such a transforming impact, and this is why "Graphic Design for the 21st Century" has been dedicated to the thoughts and visions of designers working at today's graphic coalface. The one hundred designers included in this celebration of contemporary graphic design have been specifically selected for the forward-looking nature of their work. From the Netherlands and Switzerland to America and Iceland to Japan and Australia, this book features a truly international sampling of graphic design that reveals a shared desire to communicate ideas and values in the most visually compelling way possible.
Throughout our daily lives we are surrounded and peppered by graphic messages. Indeed they have become so much part of the fabric of every-day modern life - from breakfast cereal packaging and advertising billboards to logos on clothes and television company identities - that often we register their codes only on a subconscious level. Against an ever-present insidious backing track of visual Muzak, graphic designers vie for the viewer's attention by shaping communication that is not only visually arresting but also frequently intellectually contesting. To this end they can either grab attention in a bold and direct manner or slowly reel us in with visual ambiguity or double-coded meaning. In an ever-expanding sea of information and images the best attention "snaggers" are those who bait their hooks with meaningful content, quirkily intelligent humour and/or, more rarely, genuinely new formal inventiveness. Because of the overwhelming bombardment of visual communications that we all experience on a daily basis, we have not only become more visually literate and culturally savvy in the deciphering of the intentions that lie at the root of the codes, but also our senses have become increasingly jaded by the stylistic sameness of much mainstream, "strategic," marketing-led communication. These days, for something to catch our attention for more than just a few seconds it has to be really thoughtprovoking or amusing. More than at any other time in the short but prolific history of graphic design, the current pressure on professional practitioners to produce distinctively authentic work that conveys a message in a uniquely captivating way is greater than ever. And that's not all; graphic design just got bigger. The profession has broadened as the boundaries between creative disciplines have become increasingly blurred through the application of - and opportunities presented by - new democratising digital technologies.
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